


The Day of Silence

by Urdnot Wrecks (Urdnot_Wrecks)



Category: The Technomancer (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22435129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urdnot_Wrecks/pseuds/Urdnot%20Wrecks
Summary: The Day of Silence is the one of the great holidays in Mutant Valley
Kudos: 2
Collections: Hello Earth? This Is Mars...





	The Day of Silence

The Day of Silence is the one of the great holidays in Mutant Valley.

On other holidays, there are carnivals more like the festivals of the Men; there is laughter, colour, the smell of spices, music, good food, dance.  
On other holidays, there is rejoicing at the founding of the Valley; there are parades like those of the Men; there are memorials for the dead, remembrance of past leaders, speeches from those now leading. And the greatest of those days has gained a nickname: “Phobos’ Day”.  
But the Day of Silence was Scum’s idea.

After the long years of brutality, imprisonment and slavery, he realised what Mutants most craved was rest. And peace. And so the Day of Silence came to be.  
It is not one of complete silence, of course; children still play, folk laugh at something funny, essential work still takes place. And an imposed silence would be as bad, in its own way, as the enforced labour and hardship of the slave years.  
But for many in the Valley it is an important occasion.

Some spend the day with their families or other loved ones; some reunite with old friends; some go out into the solitude of the desert.

And there is the silence.

There is the silence of the fighter who has laid down weapons that will never again be needed.  
There is the silence of the rebel who refuses to pick up tools to do the work demanded by the Man.  
There is the silence of the dying whom the grave awaits; yet still they dream of freedom.  
There is the silence of those exhausted at the end of the day’s work, too tired even to speak, strength left only to breathe.  
There is the silence of those being whipped to make them conform; yet they will not surrender in their minds.  
There is the silence of those left alone, who have had their family and friends taken away.

There is the silence of the folk returning tired from a successful hunt.  
There is the quiet of the kitchen, the pans simmering on the fire.

And as the hours of the day go by, so the silence deepens and changes.

There is the silence of a mother breastfeeding a child, and knowing that both of them are safe.  
There is the silence in which the honoured dead rest, free from their bonds and their servitude.  
There is the quiet in which small children sometimes play.  
There is the silence of lovers whose love has no need of speech.

There is the peace of being safe, and being free.

There is the silence which moves the dream forward.

**Author's Note:**

> A piece for the second “Hello Earth? This is Mars...” ’zine. As always, many thanks to [Wahlbuilder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WahlBuilder/pseuds/WahlBuilder) and all the authors there; and to the lovely folk of (what was formerly) the Technomancer Discord


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